Your Financial Friend

The term “cash back shopping” in this instance means the cash you can get back from shopping on certain websites on the internet.

If you shop on the internet at all, you’re probably searching for stores that offer you discounts, coupons, etc. Though discounts and coupons and discounts are good, they’re not cash.

If you’re like I was, you probably search for the type of product you want and then go to each site that looks interesting. The trouble with strategy is that you may or may not find the exact product you’re looking for. Then there’s the problem of security and trust. Can I trust this site or store to process my payment and actually deliver the product?

Worse yet, are they going to plunder my credit card account, my bank account or steal my identity?

One of the best ways to get a higher comfort level is to go to the site of one of well-known retailers, Like Macy’s, Target, Home Depot. That’s probably one of the best strategies. Of course do they offer discounts or coupons all the time? You know the answer to that one is “no”. You might as well drive down to the store and pick it up in person!

There’s a better way to shop and not get only discounts, coupons, etc., but to get actual cash as well.

That’s the type of “cash back” shopping I’m talking about. The websites are called “cash back shopping sites”, and offer you all the things I mentioned. They’re often referred to as cash back shopping portals or gateways.

Here’s the bird’s eye view of how you use them:

· Join for free and login

· Search for the store or item you want from within the portal

· Check on the percentage of cash back you get

· Check on the coupons or specials offered

· When you click on the store’s website, you’re taken to the exact website you would have gone to outside of the portal

· Shop

· Check out

When you’re done you’re have gotten not only any discounts, coupons, specials, etc, you would have gotten on the website outside of the portal, but you’ve also gotten some cash back!!

Cool, huh? That’s saving money.

The term “cash back shopping” in this instance means the cash you can get back from shopping on certain websites on the internet.

If you shop on the internet at all, you’re probably searching for stores that offer you discounts, coupons, etc. Though discounts and coupons and discounts are good, they’re not cash.

If you’re like I was, you probably search for the type of product you want and then go to each site that looks interesting. The trouble with strategy is that you may or may not find the exact product you’re looking for. Then there’s the problem of security and trust. Can I trust this site or store to process my payment and actually deliver the product?

Worse yet, are they going to plunder my credit card account, my bank account or steal my identity?

One of the best ways to get a higher comfort level is to go to the site of one of well-known retailers, Like Macy’s, Target, Home Depot. That’s probably one of the best strategies. Of course do they offer discounts or coupons all the time? You know the answer to that one is “no”. You might as well drive down to the store and pick it up in person!

There’s a better way to shop and not get only discounts, coupons, etc., but to get actual cash as well.

That’s the type of “cash back” shopping I’m talking about. The websites are called “cash back shopping sites”, and offer you all the things I mentioned. They’re often referred to as cash back shopping portals or gateways.

Here’s the bird’s eye view of how you use them:

· Join for free and login

· Search for the store or item you want from within the portal

· Check on the percentage of cash back you get

· Check on the coupons or specials offered

· When you click on the store’s website, you’re taken to the exact website you would have gone to outside of the portal

· Shop

· Check out

When you’re done you’re have gotten not only any discounts, coupons, specials, etc, you would have gotten on the website outside of the portal, but you’ve also gotten some cash back!!

Cool, huh? That’s saving money.

Two-thirds of us have no financial plan.

provided by Bradford G Lee, RIS

64% of Americans have no financial strategy at all. That’s right – no plan whatsoever to build wealth or keep it. That finding comes from the 2009 National Consumer Survey on Personal Finance conducted by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (The survey collected data from 1,700+ U.S. residents.)¹

Only 17% of us have a written financial plan that is updated regularly. So congratulate yourself if you are in that group. The CFP Board found that just 17% of the 36% polled who did have a written financial plan had reviewed it in light of changing times. Notably, 48% said they had benefited from having a written plan.^1,2

Just 38% of the 36% having written financial plans retain a financial advisor. The really troubling part: 37% of those with written plans are doing their financial planning on their own. Another 12% of respondents with written plans have consulted a friend or family member who isn’t a financial services professional for advice.¹

Why don’t more people have a financial plan? After all, Americans of all incomes and savings levels certainly are free to set financial goals. In the survey, the reasons varied. Some cited the expense of engaging a financial advisor; some said they get along just fine without a financial plan, and others felt their finances weren’t complicated enough to warrant one. Others were hazy about financial services industry qualifications – 40% of respondents had no idea that there were professional credentials or designations for financial advisors.

Syndicated financial columnist Humberto Cruz recently noted that when he told some fellow vacationers in Orlando that he wrote about financial planning, they all asked him if he gave stock tips. He had to explain that he was simply a journalist, not a financial planner.^3,4

Defined goals lead to definite plans. If you set financial objectives and plan for them, you vault ahead of most Americans – at least according to the CFP Board’s findings. A written financial plan does not imply or guarantee wealth, of course; nor does it ensure that you will reach your goals. Yet that financial plan does give you an understanding of the distance between your current financial situation (where you are) and where you want to be. Too many Americans, it seems, have little comprehension of their financial situation or their financial potential.

How much planning have you done? Retiring without a financial plan is an enormous risk; retiring with a financial plan that hasn’t been reviewed in several years is also chancy. A relationship with a financial advisor can help to bring you up to date about what you need to do, and provide you with more clarity and confidence when it comes to the financial future.

Brad

Bradford G. Lee, RIS

Focal Point Financial Services

This is a post about one of my Daughters and her recent venture into coupon shopping:

Hi Dad,

I know you’re interested in people saving money, so I thought I’d tell you about my Rainbow shopping trip today.  I attached a picture of everything I bought, with a list at the bottom.  Today is double coupon day at Rainbow.  You can double 5 coupons up to $1/ea with a purchase of $25 or more.

The full price for all those groceries without sale prices or coupons is $141.26. This is how I used to shop — very little regard for sales or coupons.

Factor in the sale price and the cost would be $101.00 — a savings of $40.26. This  also resulted in a $10 coupon good on my next order along with a free milk coupon good on the next order.

My price was $42.85 — a savings of $98.41 from full price and $58.15 from sale price.  I did it by matching items on sale with coupons and splitting it into 4 different transactions allowing me to double 20 coupons.  With the exception of the bananas, crackers, and muffin cup liners, everything I bought was on sale or had some sort of deal attached to it.  I also used the $10 coupon and free milk coupon right away, which was possible since I had 4 transactions.

I’ve spent the last 6 weeks building up our pantry and freezer which allows me to shop this way — just the sales.  I plan our menu one month at a time based on what we already have.  But, I do adjust it, if necessary,  based on what I may have bought.  For example, the cabbage will need to be eaten this week.  So, I’ll change one of our meals to incorporate it in.  But, I’ll only use what ingredients I have on hand, so no quick trips to the grocery store.

Here’s a picture of all my groceries:

Here’s the stuff I ended up getting for free:

• 4 cans of Campbell soup
• 1 gallon of whole milk
• 3 frozen Healthy Choice meals
• 2 packages of Yoplait Delights
• Welch’s grape jelly
• 1 lb of green split peas

Here’s the complete list of what I bought:

• 2 gallons whole milk
• 4 Tombstone frozen pizzas
• 2 Pop tarts (12ct)
• 2 Cheerios
• 1 Lucky Charms
• 1 Reese’s Puffs
• 1 Cocoa Puffs
• 1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch
• 1 muffin cup liner
• 8 Yoplait yogurt
• 3 Yoplait Whips
• 2 Yoplait Delights (4ct)
• Welch’s grape jelly
• 3 Land O Lakes Butter w/Olive Oil
• 4 Campbell Soup (Cream of Broccoli; Broccoli Cheese; 2 Beef Consommés)
• Saltines
• 4 Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers
• 3 Healthy Choice frozen meals
• Dawn (19oz !!)
• 2 Speed Stick deodorant
• 2.25 lbs banana
• 2.25 lb cabbage
• 1 lb green split peas
• 10 lb bone in ham (this will be 3 meals for us: ham/cabbage/potatoes; creamed ham on toast; split pea soup)

Well, this it for my Rainbow shopping trip!

Georgette

Plan to exploit them before they expire.

provided by Bradford G Lee, RIS

The year goes by, you get busy … and tax-saving opportunities slip away. So as a reminder, this article is here to reacquaint you with some of the notable federal tax breaks offered this year.

The first-time homebuyer credit. This is the up-to-$8,000 credit available in 2009 to anyone who hasn’t owned a home during the previous three years. (It is subject to phase-outs at certain income levels.) The home you buy has to be your principal residence, and you have to buy it before December 1, 2009. The credit does not have to be paid back.¹

The IRA charitable rollover. This is the move that lets your IRA trustee make a tax-free direct transfer of up to $100,000 from your IRA to a charitable organization. This option is scheduled to go away in 2010. You must be age 70½ or older to do this.²

3 don’t-miss deductions for businesses. When it comes to new cars and light trucks used for business means, the maximum first-year depreciation deduction has been increased by $8,000 for cars placed in service before 2010. The Section 179 deduction (that’s the one that lets you write off the costs of certain new and used business assets during their first year of use) is still at $250,000 for 2009, instead of the prior $133,000. The first-year bonus depreciation break of $50,000 is still in place for 2009, and even the biggest businesses can take advantage of it.³

The new car sales tax deduction. Okay, “cash for clunkers” is over, but you still may be able to deduct state and local sales and excise taxes if you buy a car, motorhome, motorbike or light truck. You can itemize the deduction or just add it to the amount of your standard deduction.⁴

A major tuition tax break. In 2009, you can claim an above-the-line deduction for “qualified tuition and related expenses” relating to the enrollment or attendance of you, your spouse or your dependent at an eligible college or university. While it is subject to phase-outs at higher income levels, the deduction can be as large as $4,000.⁴

The classroom teacher credit. Are you a primary or secondary school teacher? If you were an educator who worked more than 900 hours on campus in 2009, you can claim an above-the-line deduction for up to $250 of personal expenses for schoolbooks and school supplies that see classroom use. You don’t even have to itemize.⁴

COBRA continuation. Did you get laid off this year? Were you insured under an employer-sponsored health plan? Well, you may qualify for up to nine months of (COBRA) coverage. As for the company where you worked, it can claim a credit for the COBRA subsidy it extends to you.⁴

$2,400 in unemployment income tax-free. That’s right: this year, the first $2,400 of federal unemployment compensation benefits you receive are excluded from gross income.⁴

An extra deduction for state and local property taxes. Do you usually claim the standard federal deduction? If that’s your plan, this year you can take an additional deduction for state and local property taxes. The ceiling is $500, $1,000 if you are filing jointly.⁵

The capital gains tax break. If you are in the 10% or 15% tax bracket, note that the current tax rate for long-term capital gains is 0% – and it is slated to stay at 0% through 2010.⁶

The homebuilder tax credit. Do you build homes? If so, you may claim a credit of up to $2,000 for each qualified energy-efficient home constructed and acquired from you for use as a residence. This credit is set to expire December 31, 2009; President Bush’s signature extended it into this year.⁷

And of course, the exemption from required IRA distributions. The federal tax mandate requiring IRA owners age 70½ to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) was suspended for 2009, but it will be reinstated for 2010. Worth noting: in 2010, anyone will be able to convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.^4,8

This is just a sampling. There are other tax breaks out there during this unusual year for the federal tax code, and it is worth asking your accountant or advisor to do some research and/or collaborate to find you as many as possible.

Bradford G. Lee, RIS is a Financial Advisor with SagePoint Financial, Inc

With so many people needing to cut back on their budget, it’s probably a good time to talk about saving money and finding bargains for groceries and household items.

I’ve posted about this before, but it’s a real good time to do it again. Many people just don’t know where to start looking for bargains, so let’s list just a few places to look:

• Your Sunday and mid-week newspapers.  Your local grocery stores, pharmacies and department stores usually have special prices on “stuff” that can be seasonal as well as year-round items.  TIP – Shop only where you can get the bargains and shop only for those bargains. Resist the temptation to get stuff you don’t need “just ‘cause it’s on sale.”
• Go to the same Sunday and mid-week papers for coupons.  Yeah,  I know, you don’t want to be a coupon clipper. Just to give you an example of how much money you can save, my Daughter paid $19 and got $38 worth of groceries from one trip to a local grocery store using coupons!  I don’t know about you, but 1/2 off is pretty cool to me.
• Try different stores.  Don’t go to a certain store ‘cause you “like” the store.  You can learn to “like” a different store or two or three if you can save money and get good product.  And you may be better off trying two or three different stores.
• Shop in WalMart.  Yeah I know, the media gives them a bad rap because they’re “big business”.  Maybe they are, but you sure get some great bargains.  Not only on name brand products, but on their own brand also.  Just go past your local WalMart and see how crowded the parking lots are now.  The reason is great prices!
• Shop Sam’s Club or Costco.  It may cost a little bit for a membership, but you more than make up for it in a few months or less. We belong to Sam’s Club and have for many years.  I’ll give you an example of great pricing.  For the past two weeks you can buy a whole boneless pork loin for $1.38 per pound.  The loins average around 10 pounds.  Take it home, put it in your freezer for about an hour just to make the meat a little stiff and then slice it into 1” thick slices.  Talk about great taste!
• Shop Aldi Food Mart if you have one near you.  Great prices on off-brand products and a lot of name brands.
• Shop the dollar store for stuff like band aids.  You can get 110 for $1.00.  The off-brands in most drug stores are around $2.50 for 25!
• Check out organizations like Fare Share Coop.  You pay a certain amount and the organization, mostly volunteers, buys food in large lots and get great bargains.  Go to this link and see the type of foods you get  http://www.faresharecoop.org/. Check for this type of coop in your area.

Well, I’m sure I’m missing a lot of things, but this is a good start for people new to shopping for great bargains.

George

What would they have to do if health care reforms pass?

provided by Bradford G. Lee, RIS

Provide employee health insurance, or pay a penalty? Small business owners worry about having to face that choice. That possibility moved a step closer to reality in mid-July, as three of five Congressional committees approved new legislation to remake American health care – legislation that could expand health insurance coverage to 46 million uninsured Americans, with potentially harsh consequences for business owners.^2,3

Two variations of pay-or-play. The House version of the bill would levy a fine on employers that don’t offer health coverage – a fine as large as 8% of a company’s annual payroll. However, some businesses could qualify for tax credits and some very small firms wouldn’t have to pay such penalties.²

The Senate alternative would spare small companies (25 workers or less) from annual penalties. It would require a business with 25 or more employees to fork over $375-750 per worker annually if that business refused to offer health coverage or paid less than 60% of employees’ monthly health plan premiums.^2,3

Could businesses handle this? After all, some companies have considered dropping health plans altogether. Health insurance premiums paid by businesses have increased more than 200% in the last ten years, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report; in 2008, single coverage averaged $4,704 and family coverage $12,680. The report found that less than half of businesses with three to nine employees offered health plans at all last year. ²

The House version of the bill would require a small business with a payroll of $250,000 or more to provide coverage or be penalized. The penalty would actually be a sliding-scale payroll tax: it would be 2% of payroll at $250,000 and climb to 8% of payroll for companies with $400,000 payroll or greater.³

What if you’re self-employed? No break for you. In the Senate version of the bill, any self-employed individual would have to buy health insurance or pay a $750 penalty annually. However, insurers could not use past claims history or pre-existing medical conditions to deny you coverage. Individuals whose income

is within four times the poverty level (i.e., $88,000 or lower for a family of four) could qualify for subsidies. ³

As for the House version, it asks self-employed individuals to buy coverage or pay a tax equivalent to 2.5% of the difference between their adjusted gross income and the tax filing threshold (which was about $9,000 in 2008). Sliding­scale subsidies would be offered to self-employed Americans so that they would not have to spend more than 11% of their income on health coverage. As in the Senate bill, insurers could not wiggle out of providing coverage by citing pre-existing medical conditions.³

What would the long-term impact be? In the bleakest scenario, businesses would be hard pressed to offer workers decent wages or decent health coverage. Nationally, fewer and fewer companies are offering health benefits in the first place. A 2008 National Small Business Association poll found that just 38% of small companies could afford health plans at all, compared to 67% of small businesses in 1995.⁴

A sunnier outlook comes from the Small Business Majority, a nonprofit advocacy group founded by small business executives. Its report examined three scenarios using different levels of employer tax credits and employer

payments. It concluded that the proposed health care reforms could save small businesses as much as $855 billion, and preserve as many as 128,000 jobs that would have been lost because of runaway health insurance costs.⁴

Stay tuned. Will Congress give business owners more of a break? Could penalties be reduced, or requirements eased? Will fewer businesses offer health plans, assuming that their employees could qualify for federal subsidies toward individual health insurance? At this point, there are more questions than answers – but with the median health insurance cost for U.S. businesses already at about 11% of payroll, any increase would be unkind.²

Bradford G. Lee, RIS is a Financial Advisor with SagePoint Financial, Inc. and may be reached at 426-73750

These are the views of Peter Montoya Inc., not the named Representative nor Broker/Dealer, and should not be construed as investment adviceAll information is believed to be from reliable sources; however, we make no representation as to its completeness or accuracy. The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If other expert assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional. Please consult your Financial Advisor for further information.

Citations.

1 nytimes.com/2009/07 /18/health/policy/18health.html?hp [7/17/09] 2 dallasnews.com /sharedcontentl dws/bus/stories/DNlocalhealth_16bus.ART.5tate.Edition2.4bde27c. html [7/16/09] 3 businessweek.com/smallbiz/contentljuI2009/sb20090716_683119.htm [7/16/09] 4 cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/16/politics/main5092451.shtml [6/16/09]

This is my first rant but it probably won’t be my last.

What I do daily is look at people’s bank statements and financial data.  People come to me to help them out of financial messes.  What I see is totally sickening.    People are losing their houses to foreclosure, and:

1. Pay more than the minimum on their credit card bills
2. All I see on their bank statements is “Chipotle, Don Pedro, Taco Bell, Burger King . . .
3. Hundreds to thousands minutes of text messages on both the adults’ and children’s’ cell phone bills

Let’s talk about the credit card bill first.   I believe that what we’re seeing in the Financial columns has a lot to do with this mindset.  “You have to keep a good credit score”, is what they say.  What good is a great credit card score is you’re living in your car?  Pay your mortgage and let the credit card bill go . Or at the very least pay a minimum on the credit cards.  If you lose your house or go into foreclosure your credit scores go in the basement anyway!

The reason I mentioned the restaurants is the fact that after all the bills are added up, a preponderance of of the “expenses” are in fluff!

Whatever happened to talking to people in person?  Or talking on the phone.  The teenagers love chatting, but does that mean you have to?  You’re not a teen anymore.  Try chatting on Facebook.  That can be fun and its free!

If you’re going to:

1. Go on a budget – budgets don’t usually contain frivolous things such as eating in restaurants or texting.  Cook at home, buy Hamburger Helper and cook at home, get frozen entrees and cook at home.  Even if you only do that twice a week, the amount of money you save is unbelievable.  Ditto what I said above on texting.
2. Convince your Lender that you want a loan modification, for example.  Lenders look at your bank statements when you apply for a loan modification.  Their logic is that if they’re going to give you something, you have to give them something in return.  A lot of times loan modifications can be denied because of  “frivolous ” spending.  If your bank statement shows you don’t care enough to pay your mortgage but you pay your credit card ahead, what are the Lenders to think?  To a Lender, eating out all the time and texting is really, really frivolous. If you are trying to get your mortgage modified, at least give them a modified budget which doesn’t include all the habits of the wealthy.  Give them a modified budget and show them you want to stay in your house.

Enough for today.  Just get your priorities in life straightened out – not for me, but for yourself.

Most people throw away their remote when it goes erratic or it fails.  How about trying to fix your remote before you chuck it?  Check out this video first.

Good luck!!

George

The cost of living is getting higher all the time and most experts don’t see most prices going down any time soon.  The price of  most of the things we purchase is usually out of our hands – we pay what they charge. There are some things we can control, though. One of these things is the price of food. Now I don’t mean buying truckloads of food to get a lower price. I just mean we can save money by doing some things on our own.

Baking your own bread at home. is one of those things.  The price of bread is running between $3. 00 and $4.00 for a loaf of a name brand bread. Not too expensive for some people, but if you’re struggling to make ends meet, or you kids eat a loaf a day, that’s expensive!

Several years ago baking your own bread involved a long drawn-out process. Now, as we all know we can get a bread machine to do it for us. But many people still don’t realize is how easy it is to bake your own bread using a bread machine.  Some people don’t  have the time to learn. Some people don’t care to learn. Using these machines is really easy. You can find all about that on the internet. The hardest part is the planning, but once you’ve got everything and tried it once or twice, it can be done in about ten minutes.By the way, I baked the bread before my wife wrested the chore away from me.

OK. so what does it cost to make the bread?

We’re talking prices here and saving money so let’s look at what it costs to make a loaf of bread:

The bread machine is the major upfront cost. Look at all those wedding gifts you got and have nevr use, and you might even find a bread machine you don’t even know you had. Barring that, you have to buy one. Online, the cost of a Breadman bread Machine is between $51.9 to $59.99 online.  The cost is probably similar at your local Target or WalMart. This particular bread maker can make up to a two pound loaf of bread. That sounds like a chunk of change, but how much did your MP3 player, (substitute any “toy” here), cost? Did you save any money in your budget with it? A bread maker can last you many years and save you a ton of money.

The next biggest expense is probably the bread flour. It costs $2.44 for a five pound bag of white bread flour at WalMart. If you like making the bread and have a place to store the flour,  it costs $7.72 for a 25 pound of bread flour at Sam’s Club.

Other things you will need:

1. Yeast can cost about anywhere from $.75 per loaf to $.05 per loaf. Buy at least in two pound packages to save the most money.
2. Oil, other types of flour . . . Only if you want other kinds of bread.  Add another 10 – 20 cents for oil and whatever.

My wife says most bread recipes call for 4 cups of flour, on average, of whatever kind of flour she uses for the different kinds of bread she makes.

That means she can get 5 loaves of bread from one five pound bag of flour, (if she makes French or white bread), or 125 loaves of bread or more out of a 25 pound of flour. So at five loaves per five pound bag that’s about .50 for flour. If we include the price of  the bread machine for a year, at about $1.00 per week, that’s about:

• $1.85 for one loaf a week
• $1.35 per loaf for two loaves a week
• After a year the bread costs on average about $.50 per loaf

Are there any other benefits?

There are definitely some additional benefits of baking your own bread, which are probably better than saving the omoney:

• Fresh bread all the time
• No preservatives
• Make many different kinds of bread

The Bottom Line

So here’s the question: do you want to save money baking your own bread and get the other benefits above? That’s your choice, but it sure makes sense for us.

George